Dancing With Spears
by Calico Yorki
Summary: Amelia. She's adorable. She's stubborn. She's brave. She can become one of the most powerful characters of the game. This fanfic will feature multiple chapters, not necessarily connected, centering around her. Put Ya Spears On.


"Hm hm hmmm...Hm hm hmmm..."

Humming as she strolled along through the forest, Amelia looked around at her surroundings. She had been sent to find firewood after the group set up camp, and was having little luck. Adjusting her grip on her lance, Amelia sighed; carrying the thing around for protection at all times really hurt her shoulder. She tried to press her hand onto her shoulder to relieve some of the pain, but was stopped by her spauler. Grumbling, Amelia prepared to move on again -- However, some sort of noise that reached her ears stopped her.

"Hah!" _Thmp!_ "Hah!" _Thmp!_ "Hah!!" _Thmp!!_

After a few repetitions of this, Amelia realized that she was hearing someone practicing in combat. Curiosity piqued, the young soldier quietly made her way towards the location she determined the sound to be coming from. When Amelia found the clearing that she was looking for, she gave a squeak and hid behind a tree.

In the clearing, Gilliam was practicing his lancework on a tree. His form was perfect; his green armor shone, his stern eyes remained locked on his target; and every strike caused the large tree to quiver loudly, sending the leaves high up above into a symphony of rustling. Amelia was deeply impressed, but also more than a bit afraid; Gilliam was quite an intimidating person, and he probably wouldn't appreciate having Amelia spying on him. With that thought in mind, Amelia tried to sneak away, peeking over her shoulder…

"WAH!!"

…But she ended up slamming the lance she was carrying into a tree, throwing herself to the ground with quite a commotion. Laying there, Amelia silently hoped that Gilliam would think it was just an animal and that she could just get off scot-free. However, it was not to be.

From the clearing, Gilliam said, "Whoever's there, show yourself. I guarantee you won't like it if I have to come over there." With a gulp, Amelia dragged herself to her feet and slowly walked into the clearing. She looked at Gilliam with a bit of fear, afraid of what he would do in anger. However, she was surprised by his next statement:

"Did you get the firewood?"

Amelia blinked. Though she was confused, when seeing Gilliam's stern gaze more clearly, she stuttered out, "Uh, um…N-no, I was having some trouble, and I…I heard you training, a-and decided to come watch…S-s-sorry!!" She turned to leave in a rush, but was stopped.

"Wait." At Gilliam's voice, Amelia immediately froze in her tracks while turned away. Clutching her lance to her chest, Amelia heard Gilliam continue. "Come over here," he said. With another gulp, she turned back around and walked to Gilliam, all with incredible slowness. She tried to avoid looking at Gilliam, terrified of him.

The Frelian knight suddenly walked over to inspect a medium-sized tree, before gesturing for Amelia to follow. When the young girl finally reached him after much stopping short and deliberating on whether to try and run, Gilliam pointed to the tree. Out of nowhere, he said, "I want you to attack this tree."

Amelia blinked, quite surprised. She could barely even register what Gilliam had said – She started to think he was just trying to mess with her. However, when the large man stepped back to give her room, Amelia realized that he was serious. Gulping, Amelia gave a "S…Sure," And prepared herself.

"HAAAH!!" With a yell, Amelia called on all of her arm strength that she could. Though for a few seconds it seemed she wouldn't be able to do it (Especially to herself), Amelia's endeavour ended with a quick stab into the tree's bark. Sap leaked from the wound, as Amelia removed her spear with yet more struggling. She nervously said to Gilliam, "H…How was…That…?"

Curiously, Amelia didn't get an answer for a while. She cautiously turned to look at Gilliam, wondering why he remained silent. What Amelia saw was the Frelian knight stroking his chin thoughtfully, as he gazed at the damage she had done to the tree. Finally, Gilliam said, "…I suppose I should have known." Seeing Amelia's confusion, he continued. "You joined the Grado Army hastily, and at a stressful time; it's obvious that they wouldn't take time to train you in using a spear." Ignoring her slightly angered look, Gilliam spoke again.

"You need to change your stance," he said. "Get a few feet back from the tree, and stand with your left foot forward and your right foot back." He crossed his arms, waiting for Amelia to comply. Although she was incensed from Gilliam's comment, Amelia moved back as he said and took the stance he described.

Next, Gilliam said, "Grip your lance with your right hand back and your left hand leading, and put about a foot and a half between them." Amelia followed the orders, this time with a bit less reluctance. She had to admit, this stance definitely felt more stable…

Amelia next heard from Gilliam, "Step forward with your right foot while thrusting your spear forward. Remember – Don't leave the job up to your arms alone. Use the momentum of the step, as well as your entire torso. Anytime you're ready." He fell silent again, watching. Amelia, feeling sure of herself, nodded. She took a few deep breaths, readying herself…

…

About an hour later, Amelia sat against a tree, panting. Several of the trees around her were dotted with pierce wounds, thanks to her training. She smiled, saying, "Th…Thank you for training me, Sir Gilliam." However, she got no response. And while she was used to this by now, she realized that she was alone after two minutes passed. Finally raising her head to look around, she found that Gilliam was nowhere to be seen. For that matter, neither was her lance.

Scrabbling to her feet nervously, Amelia rushed out of the clearing in what she believed was the direction of camp. Considering how focused she had been on perfecting her technique, Gilliam could have left at any time. Amelia started to panic, but stopped as she narrowly kept from running into something. She blinked in surprise. "No…Way…" But she wasn't seeing things.

Amelia smiled tiredly, lifting her spear in her left hand and hefting the pile of firewood under her right arm.


End file.
